1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to battery trays for mounting electrical storage batteries in automotive vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Battery trays for mounting electrical storage batteries in automotive vehicles have long been provided as original equipment on automotive vehicles. When battery replacement is required, a battery hold down device that secures a battery on the vehicle battery tray is loosened and the battery is removed and replaced. However, heretofore no suitable replacement battery tray has been available for replacing the battery tray originally installed at the time of manufacture of the automotive vehicle. As a consequence, replacement batteries installed in the old, corroded trays, have been subjected to a reduced life expectancy.
The original equipment battery trays, while initially quite serviceable, tend to deteriorate along with the original battery provided with the automotive vehicle. That is, acid spills and electro-chemical action cause structural deterioration of the battery tray originally provided with the automotive vehicle. Quite frequently the hold down bolts used to fasten the battery tray to the vehicle frame are either themselves corroded, or the metal of the battery tray adjacent thereto becomes corroded. In either event, the deterioration and weakening of the metal involved allows the battery tray to shift and move relative to the vehicle frame. This contributes significantly to jarring and jostling of a battery fastened therein as the vehicle moves. Such movement increases the probablity and degree to which solid matter in the acid compartments of the battery cells forms bridges across adjacent plates in the cells.
As a battery is used, a certain amount of metallic flaking occurs within the cells of a lead storage battery as the acid attacks impurities in the lead and lead oxide plates. Because of the ionic nature of the electrolytic solution in the lead storage cells, the accumulation of solid material that settles to the bottom of the storage cells tends to arrange itself in continuous paths of electrical communication between adjacent plates in the cells. Once such paths or bridges are created they form short circuits and produce "dead" battery cells. Once such a defect occurs, the battery must again be replaced. While this phenomena tends to occur at a relatively slow rate through normal battery usage, this deteriorative process is accelerated markedly by jostling and rocking of the battery within the vehicle. While virtually all automotive vehicles include at least some form of shock absorbing and cushioning equipment to insulate the vehicle frame from road shocks, a poor attachment of the battery tray to the vehicle frame will magnify the extent of sharp movement of the battery relative to the frame.
While the battery trays supplied as original equipment in the construction of an automotive vehicle are originally tightly secured to the vehicle frame, the security of attachment is degraded by the chemical activity that acts upon the battery tray and eminates from the battery itself in the manner previously described.